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"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens."
i shake my head at all these rote "oh, the human race is disgusting, cruel, and meanwhile animals are inherently good. The people in my life have been awful while my dogs and cats have been loyal, blah blah blahbity blah" as a rationale for their kneejerk misanthropy. First, people who say things like that have obviously never had--nor truly sought out--kind, generous, and loving people in their lives. There are plenty of those people if you just look for them. Surround yourself with people who are good and kind and unselfish and your view of the human race improves markedly. Just as importantly, if they do encounter people who behave in ways they don't like, they lack the patience to understand what might make a person that way.
I mean, hey, abuse a dog as a puppy and he'll become vicious and damaged. Abuse a person as a child, and you'll get the same result. So why be less understanding with your own species than you would be with others? Yes, we are supposedly sapient beings. But we are products of our society, our parenting, and our economic needs. Those are tough things to overcome. Hey, supposedly literate and intelligent people spend a lot of time on cd message boards discussing their relationship, financial, and legal problems, missteps in life that would have been avoidable with a little common sense, awareness, and care. But as creatures who won't break from the grip of their collective pasts, it's not so easy.
More importantly, those who ascribe better characteristics to animals over humans have never really watched animals in action.
We have a cat. Ziggy is a sweet cat. An affectionate cat. Loves hanging with us. There's nothing ziggy loves better than to curl up in my lap for hours while i'm working. Yet, he's also really great at catching chipmunks. He doesn't just kill them. He tortures them a while. He plays with them. Tosses them up in the air. And, quite frankly, i have no illusion that if i were magically reduced to five inches in height, ziggy would do the same to me.
Same for dogs. Ever seen a pack of dogs hunt? They love it. A pack of dogs is never happier than when they are tearing some poor animal to shreds. Hamsters eat their young. Horses? Dolphins? Good god, chimpanzees are capable of behavior that would have made heinrich himmler blush. Abandon the lazy anthropomorphism of your favorite children's book. Every species is capable of some really shocking things if you actually pay attention to how they behave.
So can we abandon the infantile notion that animals are somehow better than people? For if you nurse that kind of thinking, you are really living with an illusion. Hey, i get it. It's easier to deal with an animal than people, for we are the ones with all the power in those relationships. Pets don't talk back. Pets need us for affection, shelter, security, and food. Other than that, they are generally undemanding. That means the goodness you associate with your pet is more the result of the animal acting in its own self-interest that any higher moral standing.
As a result it's easy to put pets on a pedestal while ignoring the feisty old man next door. But to do so is also to lose a bit of your humanity. Sure, there are people who are bad. But the large majority of people are not. And if you think people are somehow worse than animals, then you aren't really paying attention.
In the end, if you are empathetic to animals but not empathetic to people, the problem isn't with people. Rather it's your unhealthy worldview. Learn to be kind and generous with people. For they are animals, too.
"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens."
I mean, hey, abuse a dog as a puppy and he'll become vicious and damaged.
Not always. More often than not, an abused dog still loves people. As someone who is active in dog rescue, I see it all the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeledaf
And he will happily crap a giant pile on the neighbor’s lawn whilst leaving his master’s as pristine and pure as the driven snow.
That's the owners fault for letting the dog poop on the neighbor's lawn. I'm pretty sure the dog doesn't understand property lines and ownership rights.
Without making too fine a point of it, I've walked the walk when it comes to animal welfare by spending a lot of hours volunteering and serving on the board of our humane society local shelter, rather than just getting weepy at a story on the 10 O'Clock news. But I've also spent time volunteering on behalf of the homeless, too, for the past twenty years.
Enough of the virtue signaling. I'm just pointing out that people are needing and deserving our compassion as much as animals. Sorry if that viewpoint makes you uncomfortable.
I love animals. I would prefer the company of animals over people. Particularly dogs. I had a friend over today and a story came on the television about a dog that was abused. I burst into tears and I get super emotional whenever I read something about an animal that was hurt or abused.
I’ve had emotional moments watching the news and hearing sad stories of people/children dying. But nothing grabs at my heartstrings like the story of an animal or dog. I lost my dog of 11 years two years ago - I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over it.
I never really thought about it being an issue until she said that to me.
Without making too fine a point of it, I've walked the walk when it comes to animal welfare by spending a lot of hours volunteering and serving on the board of our humane society local shelter, rather than just getting weepy at a story on the 10 O'Clock news. But I've also spent time volunteering on behalf of the homeless, too, for the past twenty years.
Enough of the virtue signaling. I'm just pointing out that people are needing and deserving our compassion as much as animals. Sorry if that viewpoint makes you uncomfortable.
If I remember correctly you stated that those of us who prefer animals over people lack social skills.
Now you believe we are uncomfortable because of your opinion that people need and deserve our compassion.
Your opinion is fine with me .... we have different opinions.... it doesn't mean you lack anything or I lack anything ... it means we see things differently.
I like dogs better than the vast majority of people.... no more , no less.
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